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From Music Festivals To Museum Tours, Here Are 11 Events Happening In Malta This Weekend

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In between the first day being a public holiday and the rest of the days being the first teasers of summer, May is always a busy month in Malta. The first weekend of May 2018 proves to be no exception, as a long list of events have been lined up for locals and tourists alike to enjoy. 

If you’re stuck on where to go because you’re a little overwhelmed with it all, however, here are 11 events to get you started.

Thursday 3rd May

The return of Lost & Found, one of the islands most anticipated festivals

L&F 2018 will be spanning over four whole days this weekend, and while the main festival starts on Friday, Thursday kick things off with an official opening party.

For the rest of the 72 hours that follow, the island will experience multiple venues from pool parties to castle raves, and big international names that include Jamie XX, Four Tet and Diplo.

Summer starts here for thousands of locals (and Brits).

Friday 4th May

An 18-band metal festival in Malta’s old military prison

Metal festivals always tend to have a badass name, but how much more badass can you get than Sin Fest? Short answer: not much.

The three-day, open-air metal festival will also be held in Corradino’s historical ex-military prison complex, which will be transformed into an entire festival arena. 

18 bands will be performing throughout the heavy weekend, with acts from Ireland, Chile, Italy Greece, Russia… and Malta of course. 

Headlining the night will be behemoths Carach AngrenHecate Enthroned and NECRONOMICON.

A first-of-its-kind exhibition mixing writing and art

That’s first-of-its-kind in the world. 

Four different artists (from Malta, England and Cyprus) were given a series of aphoristic texts. These artists had to in turn translate them into an artwork, while each being assigned four different collaborators. The entire group of eight creatives were faced with an intriguing set of questions:

“What happens when an artist engages with an aphoristic text? What if the artist were paired up with a collaborating writer who has the task of documenting the artist’s work which responds to the same aphoristic text?”

Check out what they came up with at Valletta’s Spazju Kreattiv.

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An opportunity to party and get an early taste of summer

We weren’t joking about how Maltese summers start as soon as May rolls in.

Bringing their usual signature of indie and 80s tunes to Manoel Island’s Funky Monkey, Deadisko are promising an early taste of summer. Quite literally, seeing as that’s what they actually called their event. 

Dancing shoes highly recommended. 

A three-day reggae extravaganza

It seems like this weekend really is all about music festivals.

The south’s Zion will be hosting One Drop Festival, a celebration of all things reggae, ska and dub. Also featuring Jamaican street food, rum, beer, a colourful market, Ethiopian coffee, workshops and jamming.

Jah Bless.

An improv set by one of Malta’s top electronic music artists

Anyone who’s ever been to Liquid or follows the local electronic music scene has definitely heard of Danjeli. A heavyweight for over a decade, his performances have recently been a tad more sporadic seeing as he actually lives abroad. 

Sticking true to his impromptu self, however, Danjeli will be taking to Valletta’s Offbeat to sample, loop and reimagine the music played by keyboardist Joe Debono and dummer Joseph ‘Il-Bibi’ Camilleri.

Experimental electronic music just doesn’t get any better than this.

Saturday 5th May

Tour a beautifully-preserved townhouse from the Roman era and the remains just behind it

The Domvs Romana is one of Malta’s most easily-recognisable touristic hotspots, and you can very easily see why. The beautifully-preserved Roman era townhouse hosts beautiful mosaics which are regarded as some of the finest in the central Mediterranean, and once you exit the house, you realise that it’s only the beginning. 

Back in 1881, a set of remains were found behind the Domvs Romana. The remains are datable to between the 3rd and 4th century AD, with some people speculating on what they are and how they’re connected to the remains of the house. 

Visiting ‘the houses beyond the house’, Heritage Malta will be hosting guided tours of the remains behind the Domvs Romana at 10:30am and 1:30pm. Only a limited number of €10 tickets are available, so it would be best to reserve your tickets online ASAP.

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An exhibition tennis match featuring one of Malta’s finest sportsmen… for charity!

One Love Tennis is coming back to Malta this weekend, and will be collaborating with our very own Asciak Tennis Academy. 

The day will feature a Play-Day event for a group of 20 children from the St. Patrick’s Boys’ Home in Sliema, with all proceeds going towards gifts, prizes and donations. 

There will also be an exhibition match pitting One Love Tennis’ founder Michael-Ray Pallares and Matthew Asciak, Malta’s most decorated tennis player fresh off of representing the country at the Davis Cup. That match kicks off at 5:30pm, but more information on the event and how to donate or volunteer can be found here.

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One of the alternative scene’s band returns three years later

Three years might not sound like a lot, but with something as fluid (and fragile) as the local alternative scene, it’s the difference between a band’s debut and its breakup. One band is going beyond that, hosting a “re-debut” of sorts. 

Five Years From Now will be returning (ironically enough, three years later) to the live music scene rotation, this time hitting up Rumors at the Pieta’ Boċċi Club.

The launch of a new Maltese record label doused in acid 

… that’s acid techno for you.

Wirebox is the new name to look out for if you’re a fan of the genre, and the label’s first event will feature local legends In†rσwΣrks and Acidulant, who will be performing an extended four-hour set. 

Sunday 6th May

A day party in a water park to close it all off

When it comes to sun-kissed parties and unique venues, BLANK is one of the biggest names in the game. And this Sunday, they’re coming back with a bang.

Six artists kick off at 3pm, and the best part of it all? It’s going down at a water park. Splash & Fun? You can say that again.

Tag someone who needs to start planning their weekend already!

READ NEXT: As Malta’s Lost & Found Festival Kicks Off, British Clubbers Are Bringing Their Shitty Weather Down With Them

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).

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